I couldn’t help but think of the cultural significance of the word “ma” in our own society today; it is lead-heavy with meaning and so frequently invoked—from commonplace addresses of tender respect for women to motherly depictions of the landscape of Bengal in artworks, songs, and films

It concerns me that Tate’s apologists range from impressionable boys in my grade 9 classroom to 30-something-year-old single dads. My own mother calls me a ‘feminist’ with such chagrin in her tone, it begins to feel like a slur.

Schwartz’s narrator speaks in the choral “we”, and like a daisy chain, they connect all these women’s shared yet individual experiences of feeling closed in, being violated, feeling misunderstood by society, until they all shed their names and managed to “escap[e] the century”.

The collection comprises essays, poetry, short fiction, feature pieces, interviews, research reports, and photographs and artwork that explore the physical, psychological and political experiences of menstruation across South Asia. 

These women display extensive strength, determination and valour, acting as the pillars of their families and masters of their own fate.